The cheerful person who defined New York City as the city that never sleeps must have never stepped on a subway car.
There is no time of the day, no subway line, no neighborhood that is immune from the army of NYC subway car sleepers. We sleep in the morning and in the evening, but also at lunch time and in the early afternoon. We sleep crossing downtown Brooklyn, we nap in Gramercy and Soho, we snooze in Forrest Hill, Washington Heights, and the Bronx.
Some subway travelers sleep lightly, their eyes gently shut and sitting straight as if meditating, still holding a book or a bag. Some sleep hard, falling down from their seat, leaning on the person on their side, snoring, and sometimes missing their stop. People can even sleep standing on their feet, their forehead on the metal bar.
Train sleeping crosses all the boundaries of race, age, economic status. Entire families find harmony in shared sleep time on the hard seats of a subway car. We all come together in the sweet arms of Underground Morpheus.
New York is the city that is chronically sleep deprived, and takes naps on the subway.
[See 800 more pictures of NYC subway sleeping on Flickr]
[Sleep Bonus: Look at politicians sleeping at public events.]
March 4, 2009
beautiful.
March 15, 2009
Here is what they need:
http://www.jooyounpaek.com/pillowig.html
March 15, 2009
OMG! I need one of those right now!
April 7, 2009
Bloggers looking to network: First Fridays at Scribble Ink Cafe will post a link to your funniest post. Submit by the end of each month. Details here: http://writer4rent.blogspot.com/2009/04/first-fridays.html
April 22, 2009
I’ve spent a wonderful morning wandering through your blog. The mix of artistry, sound advice and whimsy is terrific. You’ve inspired me. Thank you!
June 2, 2009
What beautiful photos!! I am from Canada and my husband and I have visited New York 3 times in the past 5 years. We love your city. We saw many people napping and I thought how wonderful it is that they listen to their bodies and take care of themselves “in the moment”. Thanks for this.